VOTE!

If you are so inclined.  I’d appreciate your vote:  West Michigan Woman Covergirl

The Kohlrabi Has Landed…

…in my CSA bag for 3 weeks in a row.  I admit, even though I’m a well-seasoned vegetarian, this odd vegetable stumped me for uses and it was necessary to run to Google and figure out finally, after 3 weeks, what in the hell to do with multiple kohlrabi (is that the plural?  So confusing.).

While strange looking, sorta like a hot air balloon while it grows, kohlrabi possesses many attributes worth notice:

• Low in calories, only 19 for a half cup raw, sliced
• High in dietary fiber, 2.5 grams for one-half cup
• Potassium content peaks at 245 grams for one-half cup
• Vitamin content for that same one-half cup includes 25 I.U. vitamin A, 43.4 mg. vitamin C, 11.3 mcg folic acid, and 16.8 mg. calcium.

Turns out, this little guy is also known as a German Turnip and is the bee’s knees in Kashmir where it is the most consumed vegetable (food must really suck in Kashmir).  Everywhere I searched, the claim is that kohlrabi is delish both raw and cooked. Well, I’m here to tell you people, while there are several varieties of this alien veggie, I apparently got the two that suck raw.  Both white and purple variety of kohlrabi, are dare I say it, horrible raw…so off to the interwebs I went in search of a way to browbeat this veg into submission.  I found the perfect solution:  empanadas!  Pie crust can make ANYTHING taste better.  I present to you:  Kohlrabi and Sweet Potato Empanadas.

• 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1 inch of ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 tsp coriander, ground
• 2-3 medium kohlrabi, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 1 large sweet potato, cooked and smashed
• 2 large scallions, both white and green parts, finely cut
• 1 radish, minced (optional)
• 1 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• dash of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 box of pre-made pie crust or one batch homemade*
• 1 egg

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In a medium skillet, heat oil and butter over medium heat.  Add garlic and ginger to brown.  Add kohlrabi cubes, a pinch of salt and some pepper. Toss well and cook 3 or 4 minutes until kohlrabi are softening a bit.  Add potato mash and continue to cook for 4 more minutes.  Add scallions, radish, nutmeg, coriander and another pinch of salt and pepper.  Mix well and cook for one minute before removing from heat.  Set mixture to this side to cool.  It should be a very, very dry, looking mixture.  Moisture equals disaster for empanadas.

Roll out dough to be a little thinner than pie crust typically is.  If you are using pre-made crust from the store, run your rolling pin over it once or twice.   Using a cereal bowl or large circular cookie cutter, cut out 6 inch-ish circles from the dough.  It should yield about 15, give or take depending on your cutter and dough thickness.

Pre-heat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.   Prepare egg wash by beating egg with a teaspoon of water and set to the side along with a small bowl of water.

To make the empanadas, spoon one teaspoon of kohlrabi  mixture into the center of a circle of dough (it’s better to have less filling than too much or the empanadas won’t hold together. Feel out the right ratio that allows you to close off the dough without any filling popping out.).   Dip your finger in the bowl of water and run it around the outside edge of the dough.  Fold dough over the filling to create a half circle.  Press down edges.  Carefully pick up the dough pocket and pinch edges or use a fork, then place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush with the egg wash.  The video below shows how to appropriately fill and thus seal an empanada.  Caution:  it only LOOKS easy.  By the time you have made all of your precious empanadas your last one will look like this person’s first one; it is however, well worth the effort.

After you assemble the dough pockets, pop them into the preheated oven, cooking for 8 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook for 5 more minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly on a rack so they don’t get soggy.  I served mine warm with what else, Frank’s Red Hot.

**My next kohlrabi experiment is going to be this:  Kohlrabi Curry.

Doorganics Tacos

Mike Hughes I salute you.

It’s a rare opportunity when you can shake the hand of the person who not only planted, but harvested and DELIVERED your fruit and/or veggies to, your, door.  I don’t want to ruin the fantasy I have playing in my head about him digging up my little french radishes, putting them in a cooled green bin and driving them over to me personally just to say hi…but he basically did just that.

I’m going to keep this short and sweet.  Doorganics delivered today, thus, these tacos were created from my bin.  Go online, hook up with Doorganics and be pleasantly surprised.  I was.

I give you Doorganics Tacos.

• 1 tablespoon, vegetable oil
• 2 cups fresh white or yellow corn kernels
• 1 cup chopped white onion
• 1 jalapeno pepper, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced ( I used purple)
• 4 french radishes, finely diced
• 4 green onions, green parts diced only
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large tomato, roughly chopped
• 1 large zucchini, diced
• 1 cup cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 warm corn tortillas
• 1/4 cup salsa
• goat cheese or Daiya to taste

PREPARATION

1. Heat half of oil in a large skillet over high heat. Toast corn 5 minutes, stirring; season with salt. Remove corn; set aside. Heat remaining oil in skillet. Cook onion, stirring, until it caramelizes, 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, both peppers and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until warm-I like ‘em crunchy still.  Add zucchini; cook until tender but not mush, 6-10 minutes; season with salt. Add corn, beans, oregano and pepper. Cook 3 minutes. Split filling among tortillas; top each with 1 1/2 tsp salsa, a few bits of radish, green onion and 1 tsp cheese.  This makes a TON more than 8 tacos worth.  I’m taking it to lunch tomorrow sans shells.

   This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Gift That Keeps On Givin’

Mr. Wonderful and I have a very, very large raspberry bush.  Since raspberries last for about 10 seconds after you pick them, I picked a few large batches and then cooked like crazy.  The next few posts are all about the Raspberry.  First up, Raspberry Jam.

• 4 C mashed fresh raspberries
• 4 C white sugar

No need for pectin here people, finally a use for the seeds!

Use a VERY large pot, like a dutch oven, add to it the mashed raspberries.  Cook over med-high until the jam reaches a full rolling boil.  Boil x 2 minutes.  Add sugar and stir well.  Bring back to a boil, stirring consistently, boil x 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Beat with rotary beater x 4 minutes.  Pour into jars, either sterile and shelve when proper seal has been achieved, or pop into plastic containers and freeze.

*5# of berries is approximately 9 C crushed berries.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Celebration Sunday!

This is a two for one blog post today.  Last minute plans had Mr. Wonderful and I running to Lansing for the weekend to celebrate his kid sister FINALLY (as her father puts it) graduating from MSU, Mother’s Day, Mr. Wonderful’s mother’s birthday, and my new job.  Whew!  Nice to celebrate!

I’m going to air a little dirty laundry, The Wonderful Family is a little bit difficult to pin down in terms of actual PLANS, so late Friday night we decided on brunch at the Wonderful’s Farm (#walterthewonderdog loves it there).  My portion of brunch was relatively painless and I made it ahead.  Goat Cheese & Asparagus Strata and Paula Deen’s Baked French Toast Casserole.  Win-win.

Warning these are not healthy recipes!

PAULA DEEN’S FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE

• 1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup skim milk
• 2 tablespoons Splenda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Dash salt
• Praline Topping, recipe follows
• Maple syrup

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla,cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

PRALINE TOPPING

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons light agave nectar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Makes enough for Baked French Toast Casserole.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Goat Cheese Asparagus Strata

Adapted from Epicurious.com’s Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Strata

• 18 slices firm white bread (original recipe calls for English muffin bread crust free, I used French with crust)
• 1 # asparagus tips, chopped
• 8 ounces Dancing Goat, goat cheese from Dogwood Farms in Byron Center , crumbled
• 4 ounces provolone, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 6 T thinly sliced fresh basil or 3 T dried
• 6 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced*
• 5 large eggs
• 2 c half and half
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 T butter, melted

Line bottom of 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish completely with 1 layer of bread, cutting some slices to fit. Arrange half of prosciutto evenly over bread. Sprinkle half of goat cheese and half of provolone over. Sprinkle with half of green onions and half of basil. Top with second layer of bread. Layer remaining prosciutto, goat cheese, provolone, green onions, and basil atop bread. Cut remaining bread into 1/4-inch cubes. Sprinkle over top.

Whisk eggs, milk, mustard, and salt in bowl. Season with pepper. Pour egg mixture over strata; press down on bread with spatula. Drizzle melted butter over strata. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Uncover strata and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake until center is set, about 1 hour. Remove from oven. Preheat broiler. Place strata under broiler until top is golden, about 30 seconds. Cut into large squares and serve.

*for your meat-eating friends